VARIOUS ARTISTS / “Autumn Leaves Mixtape”
Source: Breath of Life - (BoL Mixtape - July 19, 2010)
I know, I know—it’s still summer but you see what had happened was… I was looking for something and ran across an interesting version of “Autumn Leaves” and then I got to wondering if there were enough versions that I liked that I could put a Mixtape together that was a repeat of what we did back on April 22, 2007 at which time we did twelve versions. You know I love a musical challenge like this.
And now the results are in. Except for the Cannonball classic version, we have nineteen versions. We do have a couple of repeat artists but this time around we’re dropping different (and I think better versions) by Dee Bridgewater and Rachelle Ferrell.
“Autumn Leaves” is without a doubt the most well-known French song that is most often mistaken as a classic of the American songbook. The original music was written for a ballet by Joseph Kosma, a Hungarian exile then living in France. The original lyrics were by famous poet Jacques Prevert. The English lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer. The song has been recorded so many times, it’s almost impossible to count them. It is a favorite of both pop and jazz artists, and because it’s theme is seasonal, it will probably be around as long as humans falling in and out of love are around, and especially those humans who have summer flings.
In any case, here is a very wide range of interpretations. A couple of versions are sung in French. As always, your comments are welcomed as to which version you think is better.
—Kalamu ya Salaam
“Autumn Leaves” Mixtape Playlist
01 Live in Antibes – Dee Dee Bridgewater
02 The Best Of Johnny Griffin
03 Bop For Miles – Mark Murphy
04 Swingin’ Love – Kenny Drew
05 Mestizuo – Concha Buika
06 Blues Everywhere – Shirley Scott
07 At Basin Street East – Gloria Lynne
08 Devastatingly Wonderful – Marie Booker
09 To The Change In You – Jasmin Bailey
10 Follow Me – Jean-Michel Pilc
11 Embraceable You – Leny Andrade
12 The Essence Part 1- Ahmad Jamal
13 Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue – Ledisi
14 Somethin’ Else (Remastered) – Cannonball Adderley
15 Autumn Leaves: The Songs Of Johnny Mercer – Jacintha
16 Live at the Great American Music Hall – Trudy Pitts Trio
17 Promo EP – Kersha Bailey
18 Dream Weaver – Charles Lloyd Quartet
19 Estival Jazz Lugano (bootleg) – Rachelle Ferrell
This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 4:10 am and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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